Never mind the Brexit — crowdfunding platform Crowdcube is raising £5 million from its members

Luke Lang, left, and Darren Westlake, cofounders of Crowdcube.
Crowdcube
The UK's biggest crowdfunding site Crowdcube is planning to raise £5 million ($6.6 million) from its members on its own site, as its CEO claims equity crowdfunding is "vibrant post-Brexit."

Crowdcube, founded in 2011, lets ordinary people buy chunks of fast-growing, private startups from as little as £10. The platform has over 290,000 registered investors and over 400 companies have used its platform to raise over £170 million.

Notable brands that have raised money on the platform include the Eden Project and River Cottage. Investors have so far had two exits — where they get any profit or loss when a business is sold. They were from Camden Town Brewery and E-Car Club.

Crowdcube, which also operates in Spain, announced in an emailed release on Monday that it plans to raise £5 million in an equity crowdfunding on its own platform later this month. It will issue a full prospectus for the raise, meaning investors will be able to take a good look under the hood of Crowdcube's business to see profit and loss, business volumes, and other key metrics.

The latest accounts filed with Companies House show the business made a loss of £4.8 million on revenue of £2.7 million in the year to September 2015. That was up from a loss of £1.3 million in 2014 on revenue of £1 million.

CEO and cofounder Darren Westlake says in an emailed statement announcing the new fundraising:

"The UK has a long and proud history as a hotbed of entrepreneurialism and innovation. In just five short years we have firmly established our position as a global fintech pioneer and the UK's dominant equity crowdfunding platform but we're not stopping there. We've got ambitious plans for the future and we're excited to be able to give the crowd the opportunity to join us on our next exciting phase of growth."

"The UK's growing investment crowdfunding market, which was estimated to be worth £245 million in 2015, is vibrant post-Brexit, with investment up 18% on Crowdcube after last week's disappointing out vote it is clear that investor demand to back great British businesses is unwavering."

Crowdcube has raised £12.8 million to date, including £1.2 million from the "crowd" in 2014. Other investors include top European tech venture capital firms Balderton and Draper Espirit, and City of London stockbroker Numis.